Cheese board wedding gift

I made this for a friend that was getting married and probably had everything already, so tried for something that was different. I was lucky to already have some mahogany strips that were about the thickness of my bandsaw blade, so tried a test sample and was happy with it. It cut it out freehand and didn’t try to make them exactly the same. The wood is maple and beech.

The monogram was made with my technique of using a template and a magnifying glass. The initials are A and J in case, you don’t see both letters.

The wood is the edge grain of a regular board. I rip it to the a little more than the thickness that I want and then glue it face to face. I haven’t worried about it cupping or I haven’t paid any attention to laying out the grain. Because the grain is pretty much perpendicular to the final surface, I have never had a problem. The design piece was not that way it was the normal face up. I did that because I like the grain of beech so didn’t change it.

I probably double the time I spend on projects being anal about symmetry and exact measurements, but I absolutely LOVE your freehand design here. Also great idea with the magnifying glass. I might use that to sign some pieces I’ve been making to sell. Great work!